Computers and computer networking have become an integral part of daily life in today's society. Most organizations rely on computer networks to enable sharing resources and information to advance the purposes of the organization. A typical computer network of an organization can include computing devices such as laptops, personal computers, smartphones (i.e., cell phones offering advanced computing capabilities), personal digital assistants (PDAs), etc., and network elements such as routers, switches, gateways, servers, etc. Additionally, any number of computing devices and network elements can be configured in a particular computer network, with some computer networks having hundreds of thousands of such devices. Moreover, as an organization grows and/or changes, its computer networking needs may also change. Hence, adding network elements and computing devices to a computer network can be a common occurrence. Although many devices have autonomic or self-managing properties, configuring new devices in a secure manner can nevertheless be an administrative burden. Thus, the ability to effectively manage computer networks presents significant challenges for network administrators. Accordingly, a simplified approach for enabling secure configuration of new devices is needed.